"Help!" for: Armor Mounting / Costume Assembling

[EVAkura]

Just a shout out to put an idea I have out here for others to use if they want (I have not seen it before, so why not let others know!)

I went to my local thrift stores and bought up all of their ski boots. I am going to salvage the buckle systems (which look cool on their own) and will use them to latch the seams together on my two piece breastplate/back armor when I get to that point. I know I will have to create an interlocking "lip" to make a good seal and have the two pieces line up properly, as well as recess the buckles so they look to be a part of the armor, not an add-on.

Has anyone else done this, and if so, how did it work out?

 

[BluerBlue]

I had a really crappy hot glue gun that I used to glue some of my pepakura pieces with. The glue is all over the outside where the flaps were glued together. I was wondering if I should redo all the pieces or if it will fix itself when I apply fiberglass resin and bondo?

 

[EVAkura]

I had a really crappy hot glue gun that I used to glue some of my pepakura pieces with. The glue is all over the outside where the flaps were glued together. I was wondering if I should redo all the pieces or if it will fix itself when I apply fiberglass resin and bondo?

I have not experienced this myself as I don't use hot glue on my pep work, but I have watched Cereal Kill3r's videos and he plainly states that hot glue is horrible if you have to sand to that level. It causes more work, and gums up all of your tools. According to him, when you sand down to the level of your pep work, and hit the hot glue, you have to use something like a dental pick to remove all the glue. If your parts are covered in exterior glue, I think you would be displeased with that experience. Sorry to be the one, but I think you would be better off re-pepping your work and either be really careful about not getting hot glue on the outside, or find another adhesive. There are many choices out there, and it all comes to personal preference.

 

[jasonzed36]

so i just finished the pepakura stage of my odst armor i am going with a sniper class like Romeo, for the shoulder piece should i fiberglass before or after i connected the larger guard plates that go on top of the shoulder piece

 

[Biggus Dickus]

What is the best way to add a little bit of "roughed up" texture to an armor (I mean like physical texture, not just a paint job)?

 

[Robert26]

So when I begin making my armor I'm thinking of hiding seams in the forearms, shins, thighs, etc that spilt the pieces in two. I want to secure these pieces together with magnets. Is there any advice with Neodinium magnets in reference to over use or messing with electronic devices?

 

[Herbi3Hancock]

I've created the mk vi high detail helmet and I am going to resin it. i can put the helmet over my head now, but some of the bottom rim pieces bend in a way they wont be able to after i've resined it. Does anybody have any suggestions of how i should make it so that i can put the helmet over my head without manipulating any of the pieces? I thought of cutting it off and putting magnets or something on the jaw piece, but then i realized that the visor would not work if I chose that path, so any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[HALOSPRTAN]

so i just finished the pepakura stage of my odst armor i am going with a sniper class like Romeo, for the shoulder piece should i fiberglass before or after i connected the larger guard plates that go on top of the shoulder piece

Good to see another odst out there, if the shoulder piece if going to be very hard to access after putting the guard plates on, i recommend doing your fiberglass, and then if necissary bondo, +painting and distressing BEFORE attaching them, you can try and attach them with velcro, pop rivits, or other forms. or you can just finish the pieces that will be showing and attach the pieces now. i would go with the attatch later part, probably because i am a perfectionist in my work

What is the best way to add a little bit of "roughed up" texture to an armor (I mean like physical texture, not just a paint job)?

If you have a dremel you can use the carving bits with the stone ones(silicon carbide i think) If you look at cereal's thread he does a tutorial on distressing his chestplate.

I've created the mk vi high detail helmet and I am going to resin it. i can put the helmet over my head now, but some of the bottom rim pieces bend in a way they wont be able to after i've resined it. Does anybody have any suggestions of how i should make it so that i can put the helmet over my head without manipulating any of the pieces? I thought of cutting it off and putting magnets or something on the jaw piece, but then i realized that the visor would not work if I chose that path, so any ideas would be appreciated.

If you dont want to mess with the jaw, you can try and cut off the back neck piece and reattach the piece later. If it is the FLYINGSQUIRREL helmet, then there are a large amount of unnecissary pieces under the jaw. you can just cut those out and continue working. Dont worry, if you have to repep, i have had to re do 6 new helmets

 

[edd 454]

Shoulder ideas..

so i just finished the pepakura stage of my odst armor i am going with a sniper class like Romeo, for the shoulder piece should i fiberglass before or after i connected the larger guard plates that go on top of the shoulder piece

I used a lot of foam for my shoulder pieces. I created a different type of Spartan from different armors. So my shoulder pieces are mainly ODST. I wrapped around a piece of foam, took the measurements, cut and hot glued together the 'sleeve'. As for the plates, I resined and used bondo on the pieces individually. Once I was ready to attach it to the sleeve, I cut holes and used small zip ties to hold the pieces together. I could've put more bondo over it to cover up the zip tie but it wasn't showing where I had attached it. That's just one way to do it. I'm sure there's other ways of doing it. I was using a under armor-like long sleeve shirt and actually had to spread the hot glue on the inside of the foam sleeve in a snake-like pattern in order for it to not slide off every 5 minutes. They held up pretty good when I was walking around Comicpalooza a couple of weekends ago.

 

[Tom117]

Should I buy some sort of mannequin, or is it possible to make one, I've seen a few photos with home made ones but can't find any information on making one, do you just get your measurements and make it as close to your body as possible ?


Best places to go to get materials for the build(England)

I've read over the all in one guide but it isn't as helpful in my opinion as it could be. It in my opinion needs simplifying in terms of giving actual list of items needed. For example I'm still unsure what tools would be good to get or where best to get them

 

[HALOSPRTAN]

For the manniquen, you can make a duct tape/cellophane body mold, and what method are you going with, pep or foam?

 

[Tom117]

For the manniquen, you can make a duct tape/cellophane body mold, and what method are you going with, pep or foam?

I've chosen to do pep.

 

[Ashuraa]

Should I buy some sort of mannequin, or is it possible to make one, I've seen a few photos with home made ones but can't find any information on making one, do you just get your measurements and make it as close to your body as possible ?


Best places to go to get materials for the build(England)

I've read over the all in one guide but it isn't as helpful in my opinion as it could be. It in my opinion needs simplifying in terms of giving actual list of items needed. For example I'm still unsure what tools would be good to get or where best to get them

1.To make a duck tape mannequin you need to choose a set of clothing you are willing to give up, that are close fitting to your body.
Put them on.
2.Get several rolls of ducktape, 5 to 10 rolls should be a good start.
3.Start wrapping your limbs, and torso with the ducktape, over the clothes. You want to make a good solid covering from your ankles up to your neck, down your arms to your wrists.
4.Have your friend or spouse cut the duct tape, and clothes in a straight line down from the back of your neck to your waist.
5. At that point you should be able to pull out your arms and legs from the rest of the duct tape suit.

6.Now stuff the form with hay, paper, rags, really anything to assist it in keeping it's shape.
7.Reseal the cut with more duct tape.

Now you have a perfect mannequin for yourself

 

[Ashuraa]

I had a really crappy hot glue gun that I used to glue some of my pepakura pieces with. The glue is all over the outside where the flaps were glued together. I was wondering if I should redo all the pieces or if it will fix itself when I apply fiberglass resin and bondo?

You can cut the hot glue with a razor blade, or exacto knife back to the edge, and clean off the front of the armor that way. I find it easier to do that step when the glue has cooled some, but not comp[leatly. I like it when it is just no longer tacky/ stretchy. I can get a good straight cut of it off at that point.

 

[Ashuraa]

What is the best way to add a little bit of "roughed up" texture to an armor (I mean like physical texture, not just a paint job)?

It depends on what type of texture you are looking for. If you want to sand / dremale it down you can, but you need to be careful of not going to deep. You can also add texture upwards by taking cottonballs, and adding a little paint or glue to your project, then when it is almost dry brushing it with the cotton balls to leave strands of the fiber on. This works great when simulating bullet holes on say a fiberglass item to simulate the fibers fraying.

 

[mailleworx]

well...i did some scanning through this forum..and i feel like an epic dumbass asking this...but does anyone have, or know the location of, a detailed diagram where all the pieces are labelled??

i have everything assembled and i'm a week away from hitting it with resin, but I'm looking at everything laid out, and there's a couple pieces that I just can't seem to find a place for. for reference i'm doing the mkvi spartan. the pieces in question are the "rerebrace (L&R)" and i believe it's the "shoulder (L&R)" they just look out of place for some reason.

if someone could point me to a picture that shows the spartan front and back, labelling what each piece is, that would rock.

I also have a scaled down darth vader that i'm working on for my 6 yr old sun. nothing like throwing yourself headlong into something.

 

[Rheiner]

well...i did some scanning through this forum..and i feel like an epic dumbass asking this...but does anyone have, or know the location of, a detailed diagram where all the pieces are labelled??

i have everything assembled and i'm a week away from hitting it with resin, but I'm looking at everything laid out, and there's a couple pieces that I just can't seem to find a place for. for reference i'm doing the mkvi spartan. the pieces in question are the "rerebrace (L&R)" and i believe it's the "shoulder (L&R)" they just look out of place for some reason.

if someone could point me to a picture that shows the spartan front and back, labelling what each piece is, that would rock.

I also have a scaled down darth vader that i'm working on for my 6 yr old sun. nothing like throwing yourself headlong into something.

Rerebrace and shoulder are two pieces that form one piece. They are assembled in this manner:

The rerebrace just makes it easier to make permutations on the shoulder, because shoulders like EVA and CQB replace the standard shoulder piece.

I hope this answers your question!

 

[001n01]

Can anyone tell me if this idea is at all feasible?

I'm thinking if building a suit of Master Chief's Halo 4 armor, out of sheet metal, and foam.

I plan on building the outer armor with sheet metal, and then fitting it with foam. I'm not sure what to do for the under-suit yet. Does anyone know what sort of problems I might run into, and how I might be able to remedy it? I also want to know if anyone could give me some tips on where to start? I've been trying to find some pepakura files of the armor I want to build, but so far, I've found nothing. Does anyone have any recommendations on what type of foam to use, what sort of undersuit to use, etc? I'd like to be able to SEE out of the helmet, so a see-through visor(that looks somewhat correct) is a must. I haven't bought any materials that I'd need yet, because I want to make sure I know exactly what I'm doing before I spend a ton of money.

 

[Rheiner]

Can anyone tell me if this idea is at all feasible?

I'm thinking if building a suit of Master Chief's Halo 4 armor, out of sheet metal, and foam.

I plan on building the outer armor with sheet metal, and then fitting it with foam. I'm not sure what to do for the under-suit yet. Does anyone know what sort of problems I might run into, and how I might be able to remedy it? I also want to know if anyone could give me some tips on where to start? I've been trying to find some pepakura files of the armor I want to build, but so far, I've found nothing. Does anyone have any recommendations on what type of foam to use, what sort of undersuit to use, etc? I'd like to be able to SEE out of the helmet, so a see-through visor(that looks somewhat correct) is a must. I haven't bought any materials that I'd need yet, because I want to make sure I know exactly what I'm doing before I spend a ton of money.

Well for one, that metal is going to be heavy. It doesn't seem like much at first, but it adds up. Lining it with foam is a good idea.

What armor files are you looking for? The 405th File Database (Google it) has a lot of armor, ranging from Mark IV to Spartan Gen 2 armor.

As for the visor, I would check sites like Amazon, and also, Stony Props (I believe it's them) have a sheet of transparent/mirrored material that can be used. It's relatively cheap too. Google them up to find out more.

Hope I helped!

 

[001n01]

Well for one, that metal is going to be heavy. It doesn't seem like much at first, but it adds up. Lining it with foam is a good idea.

What armor files are you looking for? The 405th File Database (Google it) has a lot of armor, ranging from Mark IV to Spartan Gen 2 armor.

As for the visor, I would check sites like Amazon, and also, Stony Props (I believe it's them) have a sheet of transparent/mirrored material that can be used. It's relatively cheap too. Google them up to find out more.

Hope I helped!

Thanks, that did help. I just found the pepakura files for the armor I'm looking to build Halo 4 MkVII armor. And if I build it the way I want to, will I have to install cooling fans? I've thought about it before, and now that I'm moving forward with the project, I think I may have to devise a clever way to keep the armor cool.(I live in Nevada, where it gets crazy hot in the summer) Also, If I do put in cooling fans, would I be able to tie them into a power source along with lights in the helmet? I've thought about this as well, and I believe it would be hard to do, and I may have to power the two seperately, with the lights in the helmet being run by a separate power source within the helmet.